


People Change

by akasharpiegirl



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (even if she thinks it), Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Caring Tony Stark, Concerned!Tony, Declarations Of Love, Early Pepperony, F/M, Heavy Angst, Hurt Tony Stark, I Love You, Love Confessions, Not her fault, People Change People, Pepper Potts Feels, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Pepper Potts has a bad past when it comes to relationships, Pepper Potts’ Past, Pepper was cheated on in one of her previous relationships, Pepperony - Freeform, Post-Iron Man 2, Pre-Avengers (2012), Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is trying his best, Worried Jarvis (Iron Man movies), people change, referenced past relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25637431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akasharpiegirl/pseuds/akasharpiegirl
Summary: In which Pepper tries to isolate herself from Tony without warning because she doesn’t think that she’s good enough and Tony tries to remind her of her worth.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	People Change

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, while the notion that their relationship wasn’t affected by Tony’s hookup days is great... I don’t think it’s all that realistic, and I often think that Pepper did get a little freaked over it early on... and that is where This fanfic stemmed from. 
> 
> Title came from a song called ‘People Change’ by For King & Country. 
> 
> *rated teen for language.
> 
> I also uploaded this on the second anniversary of watching Iron Man (2008) for the first time, so I think this is kinda a cool upload date. I became a pepperony shipper right after watching that for the first time two years ago. It’s so crazy for me to think about!
> 
> I hope you enjoy! It’s my first time trying to write early on, pre-Captain America : Civil War, Pepperony... so I hope I did them justice. :)

“Are we on for tonight?”, Tony asked an anxious-looking Pepper when she had passed him in a quick moment.

She stopped in her tracks, turned to him, and scrunched up her face at the thought.  _ Crap, we made plans, didn’t we,  _ she thought. She tried oh so very hard to scrounge around in her mind for an excuse. Pepper shook her head then, “N-No, I can’t. I’m sorry. My niece was born this afternoon and I’m leaving right after the board meeting to visit her and my sister... maybe next time?”

“I didn’t know your sister was expecting,” Tony raised his eyebrow at his girlfriend’s statement. “Tell her I said congratulations. Flying? Why didn’t you let me know, I could’ve gotten the jet ready with the coordinates?”

“Yeah, got a cheap plane ticket out from LAX.. layovers in ...Dallas and, uh, Philly. I literally  _ just  _ found out a few minutes ago. And I-I’ll get there late, so...”

“Economy? I hope that isn’t too bad. Call me when you get there?”

“Uh, sure. If I remember,” Pepper nodded her head, before speedwalking away. She hated lying to him, but that was the only explanation she could come up with. But,  _ technically,  _ yes. Her younger sister was expecting. Due any day now. But, her niece had definitely not been born yet. ...at least not that she knew of. This was the  _ third  _ date she had backed out of since she and Tony sort of became official and she was starting to run out of excuses.

——

Tony stared at his phone upon trying to call Pepper for the second time. Both calls were unanswered. One was sent straight to voicemail. And good grief, he was embarrassed by both voicemails he left her.

“JARVIS,” Tony sighed.

“Yes, sir?”, the AI responds.

“Has Pep made it to Connecticut yet?”, he anxiously asked as he started looking up flight reports. “I’m looking at the flight logs for LAX and can’t find anything... but they’re only showing a few that left in the last few hours. And, she hasn’t called or anything, and I’m just worried about her.”

“I’m sorry but there were no flights departing from LAX with the layovers in Dallas and Philadelphia this afternoon like she stated that there were,” JARVIS was quick to inform. “Even if she were in Connecticut and flight logs were not up to date or not showing more than the past few hours, there’s a fairly good chance she would be asleep due to jet lag and it being 2:56 AM in eastern standard time, sir. My guess is, she didn’t actually leave Malibu after the board meeting.”

He raised an eyebrow at the new information, pulling up JARVIS’ report on his holo-screen for better viewing. “That’s odd. She said she was going to visit her sister.”

“Well, I hate to say this… but that statement appears to be a lie,” JARVIS bluntly stated.

“Kind of obvious,” Tony mumbled, debating on whether he should make a deal about it. But… she had backed out of three dates already. He was starting to get concerned.

The next thing he knew, he was driving halfway across Malibu to her home at 11:58 PM with a car that barely anyone knew he had, hopefully keeping his cover from getting blown by her neighbors. God, he felt so pathetic.

He shakily knocked on her door twenty minutes later. No response. He knocked again. This time, there was rustling from the other side of the quaint home, and a muffled, “I’m coming, I’m coming!”, from Pepper. 

Tony saw the door creak open, followed by a tired Pepper wiping her eyes as she spoke, “What do you want? It’s late, you—“ She looked at Tony and she all but jumped in shock, pain flickered in her eyes as the two made eye contact. “ _ Tony _ ? W-What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same,” he deflected.

“This is my home, dumbass,” Pepper mumbled, before shutting the door on him. 

“Pepper, talk to me, honey. What’s going on?”, Tony began to plead from the outside. “Please… I just need to know if you’re okay. You… you keep dodging dates, I’m just scared. It’s been two weeks, Pep.”

Pepper opened the door again a moment later, with a look of frustration painted on her features as she did. “I’m letting you in only because I really don’t need paparazzi finding and doxxing my address tonight.”

“Whatever works,” Tony grumbled, stepping inside, and closing the door behind him.

Pepper turned toward him upon his entrance, her arms folded. He could tell she had been crying.

“Pep, what on Earth is going on?”, Tony questioned. Pepper’s eyes narrowed as he spoke. He looked behind her, seeing some 90s romance movie paused on her television and then a half empty tube of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream along with stray tissues splayed on her coffee table. “Your environment gives off a break up ambiance. As far as I know, we didn't break up… but, you keep dodging dates, though. So, what's wrong?”

“God, I am so pathetic!”, she shook her head while she tried so very hard to keep her brimming tears from escaping. 

“That makes two of us,” Tony muttered.

It was deafeningly quiet for at least a minute as Pepper tried to sort through her jumbled thoughts. 

“I…”, she whimpers. ”I’m… uh…”

“You’re what? Pepper, what are you?”

“I’m scared, okay? I’m terrified,” she raised her voice. 

“Of what?”, Tony asked. 

She was quiet again, refusing to look at her boyfriend. 

“Pepper?”, he tried to coax her into speaking. “Honey, what are you scared of? Did I do something? If I did, I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s not… it’s not you, it’s… I—“

“Oh, please don’t do the ‘it's not you, its me’ breakup speech,” Tony’s eyes widened. “If you want to end it, just say you want to break up. I’m fine, I can take it.”

“I don’t  _ want  _ to break up with you, Tony. It’s just…”, she paused, letting out a frustrated sigh as she tried to sort through her thoughts. “Am I  _ good enough  _ for you?”

“Good enough? Are you kidding me?”, Tony blinked in shock. “Of course you are. Always have been. You… you’re  _ perfect _ . I’d even argue to say I’m the one not good enough in this relationship.”

“Well, a-almost everything in me and almost everyone I know back at home is telling me to just run from… well, uh... you,” Pepper’s vision darted over at Tony for an uncomfortable millisecond before looking away once more. She didn’t want to see his expression. “Then there’s my brother reminding me that from what he knows about us, I shouldn’t run. Then there’s also this small part in my brain that keeps... keeps telling me that you... that you, uh, actually like me. That I’m not some ploy that you and whoever else made up to get good publicity and that you won’t dump me once I get too boring for you. And, I… I hope that part of me is right. But, I can’t help but think about the possibility of it… of it not working out. Everyone knows how you were with girls, T-Tony.”

Pepper looked up at him through her now tear stained eyes. Tony remained silent for a moment as he looked at her with a conflicted expression. He was trying not to show that he was hurt by her statement. 

Pepper shook her head, turning away from him, “I should’ve kept my mouth shut, I-I’m sorry. This is stupid. It’s nothing. J-Just forget that this… this ever happened. I’ll be fine. Just go home. Please.”

“Honey, no. If it bothers you, it’s not stupid, it’s not nothing. I’m not going to leave you. I’ll try not to hurt you, Pepper... please,” Tony reaches out his hand to her. “You don’t have to be afraid.”

She swatted his arm away, “You don’t get it.”

“Tell me what I don’t get, then!”, Tony raised his voice this time.

“I can’t just ‘not be afraid’ at the snap of my fingers, Tony! You… You don’t know what it’s like to be c-cheated on, taken advantage of, and belittled by your partners… all the damn time. I-It’s never happened to you! Every single relationship I’ve been in, I’ve  _ never _ been good enough for anyone, Tony. Nobody  _ ever _ wants to be with me for longer than three or four months… max. So, here we are, a couple months in, and I’m still terrified. Because my heart wants you. So bad. But I… I just can’t help but think… I’m going to get hurt. It seems i-inevitable. Can you… can you  _ really _ promise me that you’re different from all of them? That you really won’t hurt me like everyone else has?”, Pepper asked him as she tried to wipe away her tears. “I can’t handle any more heartbreaks, Tony. I really… I really can’t. If you… if you can’t promise me that you won’t walk away when things get tough, I… I need to end it.”

“Pep,” Tony murmurs. “Pepper, look at me. Please...”

She reluctantly turned around. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were even more red than they were when he had arrived not that much earlier. It genuinely hurt him so much to see her so broken down and upset. More than it hurt him when Pepper said her family was advising her against their relationship. 

“This… This relationship thing...”, Tony motioned between himself and her as he shakily spoke. “It’s new to me. ...extremely new to me. But, there’s one thing I-I know for certain, okay? I won’t ever hurt you. Not on purpose. I promise. Pepper, our relationship, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened for me.  _ E-Ever. _ If I ever did something to screw that up, I would never forgive myself. I couldn’t live with myself if I did. I’ll try not to let you down. I promise, I’ll be different from your other boyfriends. I swear to you I will be. They are the stupid ones for not seeing your worth, you deserve so much more than that, Pepper… in general, just so much more. You deserve so much better. I’ll say it as many times you need to hear it.”

“I just…”, Pepper mumbled, trying to wipe away her tears once again with the back of her hands. “I’m so scared.”

“I know, honey. I know,” Tony nodded, reaching his hand out for her tear stained one. She reluctantly held onto his. “I haven’t looked at any other girl the same way since before the gala, Pepper. Believe me. Heck, I’ve never looked at  _ anyone _ quite like the way I look at you every single day. You want to know why that is?”

“W-Why?”

“That’s because,” Tony paused, peering at his girlfriend. Even crying, she’s the most beautiful person he’s _ever_ met. “I-I’m _in_ _love_ with you, Pepper. I love you, okay?”

Pepper’s teary eyes widened, her mouth fell agape as she tried to find the words to say. All she could get out was, “I... you  _ what? _ ”

Tony squeezes her hand in a comforting way before responding as his eyes lit up with a newfound confidence, “That’s right. I love you… I love you! I love you so much.” 

All she could get out was: “How?”

”It’s you. Anyone in their right mind would love you,” Tony states. “But, do you really think I’d drive halfway across Malibu in the middle of the night, on a Friday evening in fact, to make sure you were alright if I  _ didn’t _ love you?”

“No…”, she sighed.

“I love you, Pepper,” Tony repeated to her as he let go off her hand. “I really, really do. You have no idea.”

“I-I love you too, Tony,” she murmured.

After Tony wiped away her tears for real this time, he pulled her closer to him and embraced her. He wasn’t much of a hugger, he hated them usually. But with Pepper, it was different. This embrace was also different than the usual ones they shared, too. It lasted longer and he held her closer to him. He wanted her to know he’s in it for the long haul. Every single second of it. 

He kissed her cheek before backing away just enough to slowly and carefully kiss her. Tony felt Pepper’s left arm trail from his waist up to lay over his shoulder as the two parted for a second, only to rejoin with a deeper kiss. 

The two reluctantly let go of each other a moment later. 

“I just keep wanting to say it,” Tony spoke up. “I love you so much.”

“Are we in high school or something? I distinctly remember half the couples in my graduating class repeating those phrases between every dang class… made me lose my appetite some days,” Pepper snickered. “Honestly, saying the phrase isn’t enough for me, because of that and my past relationships. I’ve fallen for the lifeless love declarations before, and... I just, the phrase doesn’t have much meaning to me anymore. But, like you said… I don’t think you would’ve checked on me if you didn’t love me… so, I love you. Thank you.”

“That must be a public school thing,” Tony shrugged. His vision shifted from Pepper to a photograph on her end table that was sat up against the wall behind her. It was of her and her sister. “Do you mind if I ask? Was the niece thing a total lie?”

“Not completely?”, Pepper let out an embarrassed laugh. “Amanda is having a baby girl, she’s due in two days… being induced, last I heard. But, you should’ve known that if I really found out she gave birth, I would’ve dropped literally anything I was doing or going to do on that day to visit my family. And, yes, that includes any date night with you.”

“Understandable,” Tony nods. “Does she have a name yet?”

“Mhm,” Pepper hums, a somewhat confident smile gracing her lips. 

“That smile tells me you helped,” Tony notes.

“Amanda told me she and her husband want to name her after me. My middle name, actually,” Pepper states. 

“Do I even know what that is?”

“No,” Pepper answers. “I hated it until I was maybe 25, which is unfortunate because I legally changed it to an initial when I was 18. She’s going to be named Annaliese.”

“Why did you hate it? It fits you,” Tony questions. 

“Everyone called me Anna because of that,” Pepper scrunched her face up just a bit. “Which, if you’ve ever paid attention to my complaining, you know why I hate that name. Even more than I hate ‘Pepper’, just so you know.”

“Anna was the name of your least favorite teacher, right?”, Tony recalls, hoping he was right.

“Yep,” she nods with an uncomfortable expression. 

“And, worse than ‘Pepper’? Wow,” Tony lets out a small laugh. “You must’ve really hated her. What did she even do? Should I even ask?”

“Imagine nine year old me being sent to the principal's office because a kid claimed I stepped on her jacket on purpose when I was actually getting up to sharpen a pencil, but then the teacher believed the kid and not me… and believed it was somehow malicious enough to send me to the office for discipline in the first place,” Pepper purses her lips together, crossing her arms. “I  _ cried  _ on my way to his office. Never got sent to the office again until senior year because I was out sick the day they handed out graduation regalia. I didn’t even want to march either and they made me because I was valedictorian.”

“Dang,” Tony baffled. 

“Principal looked at me for one second and immediately said ‘Go back to class Virginia, you would never hurt a fly on purpose’,” she shrugs. 

“You sure she’s the same person as the angry redhead who barged into my office in ‘98 and threatened my security with her nonexistent pepper spray?”, Tony jokes. 

“People change, Tony,” Pepper answers. 

“Indeed they do,” he nods with a content smile. “Hey, I hate to switch the subject, but are you going to be home by the twelfth? Got plans?”

“The twelfth?”, Pepper’s eyes lit up and a smile graced her lips at the realization of the date. “Yeah... I should be home. I’ll only be gone for three or four days at the most, home by the ninth… tenth would be the latest. No plans either. May I ask why?”

“Your birthday is in a week and a half,” Tony’s eyes widened. “It  _ is _ the twelfth, right?”

“Oh, you’re starting to remember the little things?”, she jokingly asks. “But yes, it’s the twelfth. I just wanted to hear you say it, that’s all. What’re you planning, Stark? Wanna tell me?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, okay…”, she gave a small smirk. “Never mind then.”

“Would you like some company?”, Tony inquires. “I can go back home if not.”

“If you can handle the celebrity gossip, I wouldn’t mind you sticking around tonight,” Pepper states as she steps closer to him once again, wrapping her arms around his waist, laying the side of her head on his shoulder. 

He rubbed her back lovingly before talking again, “Speaking of that, moving in. Timeline? What are you thinking? We discussed it about three weeks ago and then it never came back up. You still want to?”

“Maybe after the property in New York City gets up and running, hm?”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! Please leave kudos, comments, and share if you enjoyed!! It would be so much appreciated, believe me. 
> 
> Please stay safe out there, y’all. <3


End file.
